>> more and more of us seem to be losing faith, according to a new study on religion. >> but there is one segment of our population losing their religion more than anyone else. debra breaks down the numbers and takes a closer look at the unfaithful. >> reporter: usually when you hear the word study your eyes might glaze over but this one

right here says more people don't identify with any religion. and they have a name. some call them nuns. next time you go out to dinner with four of your friends, odds are one of you either never identified with any religion or you least it over the years. ♪ [ music ] >> reporter: catholic, jewish, protestant, muslim, sikh, so many religious. now the nuns, they could believe god doesn't exist or does or could be affiliated with any religion. >> the way the world is today, a lot of stuff is breaking apart, you know. why not religio ? >> but according to the pugh research center they make up one out of every five adults in this country. >> i'm not affiliated with any religion. >> reporter: that's a 5% spike in the last five years. the crowd gets younger, even

more are just saying no. one out of three under age 30 just doesn't believe. >> well, i don't feel good bit. >> reporter: father thomas knows these statistics well. he studies those that have to do with the catholic faith. >> people become more and more individualized with less a sense of community and a common values, commotion mission or understanding or -- common mission or understanding or support for one another. >> reporter: we reached out to other faith-based leaders but didn't hear back. this one reporter picked four people at random on the streets of georgetown. for the record, i'm a believer. >> i wasn't brought up around it, but i learn as i go. >> and how old are you? >> 20. >> i'm a sikh and i have to say it's basically a spiritual path accepting of other paths and it provides for me a sense of peace. >> i'm a christian. i've always been a christian. my mom is a christian, my dad's a christian. so that's just, you know, something that's part of my

life. >> how important is your religion to you? >> very important because i do believe in god. >> reporter: and this election season, it is important to know that in the past, the religiously unaffiliated tend to vote hands down overwhelmingly for democrats. anita? >> thank you. we know both presidential candidates claim to be religious men and if the polls are right it would appear it was romney whose prayers were answered in the presidential debate this week. the polls have shifted since, with romney gaining ground and leading in some polls he was trailing a week ago. both were out this evening. gary nurenberg is here with both. >> reporter: they were both in the key swing state of ohio this evening and the numbers are different than a week ago, different than before the debate. the election is four weeks from today. >> four more weeks. four more weeks. >> reporter: mitt romney was upbeat in the tuesday evening rally in ohio and with good reason shall. since last week's debate and

his widely perceived win, new polls have moved his way. he's 49 and obama 47 in the polls. in ohio, 48/47, romney. a new cnn poll has obama ahead. all those polls within the margin of error is close. romney's family reportedly won a fight with campaign handlers leading to a candidate telling more personal stories this week. tuesday night he spoke of inadvertently crashing a party and meeting a former navy seal. >> i just learned a few days ago that he was one of the two former navy seals killed in ben ghazi and it broke my heart. >> we've got some work to do. we've got an election to win. >> reporter: the president was also in ohio, his 17th rally there, touting new jobs numbers. >> this past friday we found out the employment rate had fallen from 10% to -- the

lowest number since i took office. >> reporter: the disappointment, bill clinton said, to republicans who fought jobs plans. >> you've got to feel some sympathy with them because they worked so hard to keep unemployment above 8% and they got above two months of getting the job done. it almost makes you want to cry for the disappointment that they face. it really broke their hearts to see unemployment drop. i want a president and a congress that loves it when unemployment drops. >> reporter: well, for nearly the last week now, the campaign has been dominated by reactions to the presidential debate, but the focus changes within hours as paul ryan and joe biden prepare for their vice- presidential debate on thursday. that will be on the news cycle maybe until a week from tonight when the next presidential debate takes place and the narrative changes once again. only a month to go. >> and perhaps one way to describe the race is not red hot but perhaps bright yellow. we are talking about the

controversial comments made about big bird and sesame street. after mitt romney pledged to cut funding for public broadcasting, the obama campaign used that to fire back. ken molestina is live with what the two are feuding over. >> reporter: mitt romney wants to cut funding, president obama wants to protect it. the big bird character who has gotten all the attention and a new ad out by the obama campaign is mocking mitt romney's stance. >> one man has the guts to speak his name. >> big bird. >> big bird. >> it's me, big bird. >> reporter: it's the ad the political arena is buzzing over following mitt romney's comments to slash funding to pbs, the obama administration chose satire as a defense. >> mitt romney knows it's not wall street you have to worry about, it's sesame street. >> reporter: she didn't use sarcasm but even the first lady

criticized mitt romney's plan. >> we all know good and well cutting sesame street is no way to balance the budget. >> reporter: his pledge to slash public broadcasting's funding is one of the ways he hopes to cut excessive funding and is taking exception to president obama using sarcasm to counter his plan. >> these are tough times with serious issues, so you have to scratch your head when the president spends the last week talking about saving big bird. >> reporter: it's a please sage president obama doesn't seem to be letting go of any time soon. i'll tell you who haven't liking this. pbs asked for the ads to be taken down. no word if it will be pulled any time soon. we know at this point president obama struggled mightily in last week's debate. coming up, why it didn't have to be that way. anita? jerry sandusky took their innocence, their courage in court has now taken away his freedom. several of sandusky's sex abuse victims were in a pennsylvania

courthouse today as a judge sentenced sandusky to at least 30 years behind bars. the former penn state assistant football coach will be 98 before he can even be considered for parole. >> he could have imposed a sentence of many centuries and there's really no point to it. he imposed a life sentence. >> before sentencing, sandusky addressed the judge and maintained his innocence. he plans to appeal the conviction. sandusky will now undergo psychological and medical exams before he's assigned to prison. well, the tsa gets a lot of flack for patting down gray- haired grannies and 2-year- olds, but at least they're trying to keep us safe. maybe their counterparts in japan could learn a thing or to. they let a guy board a plan to l.a. with enough weapons to arm a drug cartel. he wore a trench coat and underneath body proof body armor and flame retardant pants. inside his luggage, a hatchet,

knives, leg irons, handcuffs, a face mask, a biohazard suit and that's just the beginning. so perhaps a pat-down isn't such a nuisance after all. tonight the federal government is suing wells far go a-- fargo accusing them of fraud stretching back more than ten years. a crackdown on the fraud has led to charges against more than 500 people over the past year. those suspects all connected to various scams that targeted 73,000 homeowners who were trying desperately to keep a roof over their heads. things like bait and switch mortgage deals and bilked homeowners out of more than $1 million dollars. neiman marcus unveiled thefamous holiday catalog and wait until you see the crazy ideas they've got. hope you have a big wallet. a man in this group home dies after he's pepper sprayed by police. tonight neighbors are raising questions about their own

safety. that's comg up. topper. our temperature at wakeup, kind of foggy in the morning, 46 to 56 at 5:00. 45 to 55 until 7:00. and primarily in the 50s by 9:00. we'll come back and have the forecast for the nats game and look ahead to the weekend. ravens home, redskins home.

a reporter's death has been ruled murder, and tonight police are looking for her killer. sarah libby greenhall was found dead inside her burning upperville home in july. this afternoon we learned it wasn't the fire that killed her. it was a gunshot wound to the neck. that, according to the medical examiner. greenhall worked for the winchester star. her mom is hopeful an arrest will be made in her daughter's death soon. a one community, two-group homes and neighbors who say they're frankly fed up with the whole thing. this is in clarksburg, maryland where a mentally ill man died yesterday after being pepper sprayed by police. scott broom with more. >> reporter: i'm scott broom in montgomery county where police are investigating the death of a schizophrenic man who died after being pepper sprayed while being arrested. meanwhile residents of the neighborhood he died are asking questions about the group home

he lived in. 39-year-old nathan jones died yesterday after being pepper sprayed by police and going unconscious. today jones' mother says he is not eager to point fingers of blame until an investigation is complete. >> i wish i could have been there at the time, because i think i would have been able to calm him down. >> shocked. >> reporter: residents of this subdivision say it's no place for a group home. >> not when something like this happens. >> reporter: the home and one other in the same block are operated by family services incorporated of montgomery county. among the three residents here, this registered sex offender with a criminal record including charges of assault with a deadly weapon, according to online state court records. in montgomery county, scott broom, 9 news now. >> turns out family services incorporated operates at least a dozen group homes in montgomery county. the meningitis outbreak continues to grow. there are now 119 cases, 12

deaths including one in maryland and one in virginia. officials have tied the outbreak to steroid shots for back pain that were contaminated with a ngus. the shots were manufactured at a lab in massachusetts and sent to clinics in 23 states. now, would you eat a cockroach to win a snake? well, this florida man did, and now he's dead. 32-year-old edward archbold was described as the life of the party friday night. he swallowed dozens of cockroaches and worms to try to win a python for a friend. moments later he collapsed. rushed to the hospital, the store owner says contestants signed a waiver before they took part in the contest saying they were sober and didn't have allergies to shellfish. cockroaches carry similar allergens. his girlfriend said he had eaten insects before. it could be weeks before the medical examiner figures out what killed him. in england a teenager had to have her stomach removed after she drank a cocktail made with liquid nitrogen.

she complained of stomach pain. she's rushed to the hospital where doctors figure out her stomach has perforated. normally liquid nitrogen burns off the top of the drink but not this time. the woman is expected to recover after surgery to reconstruct her g.i. tract. word is biden and paul ryan have been squirreled away for days now planning for their debate. if there's one thing we learn from president obama's smack down it's that homework matters. >> if there is one picture i just can't get out of my mind from last week's presidential debate, anita, it is this one. that's the republican, of course, mitt romney, watching as president obama kind of rambles through his talking points. now, you notice romney's kind of smiling just slightly there, but really, that is the look of a man who's thinking to himself, i have read your playbook, my friend. i knew you were going to say that, and i am all over you. doesn't matter what romney said. it doesn't matter if it was a

so-called etch-a-sketch moment. what matters is it was the president who was stumbling andstruggling and looking woefully underprepared. there's a whole cottage industry out there devoted to speculating what went wrong but the "new york times" quotes white house advisors as saying the president's practice efforts were inconsistent and he thinks debates are a waste, more theater than substance. okay, but to take the theater analogy one step further, the awed dons doesn't care why the star can't perform and sometimes it is the understudy who gets the standing o. in other words, this race just got a whole lot more interesting over the last several days and the thing is, if we can believe the "new york times," maybe it didn't have to be. anita? >> food for thought, derek. have you started making your christmas list for santa? maybe if you really, really nice, he'll bring you something from neiman marcus. the annual holiday catalog is out and there's some pretty

choice gifts, expensive ones, too. for $30,000 you can buy a walk- on role in the blood way show annie. if you have a case of stage fright you'll want this special edition spider, only $354,000. now, quit clucking about that price. we found this gift, it's a little easier on the pocketbook. for $100,000 you can get this penthouse. kind of fancy? it's inspired by the palace ofversailles in france for a henhouse. if you want to give your loved one a gift of time, the priceyest gift are his and hers watches that will set you back $1 million. for the pair, of course. now, guys, i decided to get each of you a present, or at least pick one out. derek, it's this arcade system, 90 grand, you consider it's got formula one racing seats, 24 play station games and use it for car oaky. the rocket backpack just for

you on a beautiful day, you can strap it on, fly all over the place, check out the weather from above. your gift is slightly more than derek's, $99,500. i guess i'm going to have to really do some saving. >> i guess those cupcakes i was going to get you from the cupcake place down the street, not in that league. >> cheapie, cheapy. >> i've got to upscale, maybe buy the shop itself. >> crazy, who can buy this stuff? >> i know. i'll get you something other an a fruitcake, okay? >> no fruitcake ever. >> it's so early. that jet back you could go above the clouds today and it would be sunny. high temperatures 64. average high is 72. slowly but surely, we're going to be clearing out tomorrow. let's start with a live look outside. we're looking at temperatures still in the 50s. this is our michael and son weather cam. 59. our raised temps overnight tonight, i don't think it will be as cool as i thought originally. winds light, pressure falling a

little bit. satellite picture radar combined, look closely, see some low clouds here that extend essentially back to the mountains or to the continental divide and points east. not a lot of green specks here, so very little in terms of showers but a lot of low clouds and that is the case for tonight and for tomorrow morning. at least in the early part of the morning. here's our futurecast. and by 6:00 you can see the clouds still hanging on. you drop a perpendicular from hagers burg south you have clouds. not much in terms of rainfall or showers. by 11:00, 12:00, boom, we is cleared out nicely. there are some showers showing up now just to the west and northwest of the mountains. that's what the frontal system. some showers are possible in the afternoon as that front goes through. we may see a few clouds come through in the evening but i think the front goes through the metro area dry. it finally dries us out and sets the stage for a very nice thursday and friday. morning commute, wet or damp in

spots, especially with fog south and east of town. we'll be here tomorrow morning bright and early to have an update on that along with the bus stop forecast. you will need your sunglasses after 10:00 or so. a bright day. great for the nats game, temperatures 65 to 70. thursday even nicer. a little cooler behind the fronts but even a nicer day though. overnight we'll say mostly cloudy, cool, shower or fog possible. raised temps, 45 to 55 with light winds. tomorrow morning early shower or fog but then partial clearing and cool. 40s and 50s. by afternoon a very nice day. partly cloudy and milder, great for the nats game. high temperatures near 70. and winds out of the west/southwest at about 10. again a few clouds will come in late with the frontal boundary but it goes through here dry. next three days, code green, green and green. maybe a morning shower on wednesday, 69. but the bulk of the day fine. great on thursday, 65. great on friday, 66.

next seven days, great on saturday. that's the winner right there, sunshine and 70. also sunday looks good, too. ravens and skins at home. it may hit 80 degrees on sunday. showers on monday, still mild. then mostly sunny on tuesday and still rather mild and highs in the low 70s. so we recovered nicely after our taste of november weather. >> we've got so many homecomings this weekend, all that. this is good, tope. >> good stuff. rg3. rg3. >> if he's healthy. if he's healthy. >> your wish may come true, derek. robert griffin, iii successfully passing his concussion tests yesterday and today. but really, how soon will we see him back on the playing field? plus, the nationals rely on experience for tomorrow's game 3 at home. sports is next.

when the redskins return to the practice field tomorrow, it looks like their fearless leader will join them. after undergoing several concussion tests the past two days, robert griffin, iii has reportedly been cleared to practice. now it doesn't guarantee he'll be able to play subpoenaed against minnesota -- sunday against minnesota, but it is, of course, a very good sign.

rg3 will participate in noncontact drills and be evaluated after each practice. after missing one two many field goals the redskins cut place kicker billy cundiff today. they decided to go with youth over experience signing a kicker out of ucla. he was released by tampa bay during the preseason. only a couple of players on the nationals rotster have playoff experience and several of the young guys say the players like jayson werth, adam laroche and pitcher adam jackson have been a wealth of knowledge before and during this post-season play. now they're hoping that experience pays off tomorrow with jackson on the mound. the nationals were all smiles today. last night's crushing loss to st. louis seems just like a distant memory to them. now the club just focused on giving the fans a victory. >> i think the fans when they have a team to root for and a team that has a chance to be a winner every year, it's a lot

more exciting for them. like i said, they've been through a lot, a lot with this organization and it's fun. >> these guys are enjoying it and it's a fun time for them. it's not a stressful time. it's what we want to be. >> the cincinnati reds today looking to sweep the giants from the top of the tenth. eight time gold glover scott rolen mishandles the ball at third. that brings in the go ahead run that costs the reds the game. cincinnati still leads the series two games to one. guess what, college basketball right around the corner. lots of buzz surrounding this year's maryland squad as matt tergin enters the called at the helm. the expectations are not just returning to the big dance but also the national prestige. >> i think the national spotlight stuff is coming. i think we all know that. we're going to get better and we're going to continue to recruit. and that's a great job,

maryland's a great job. and finally tonight this is in the stupe, crazy and don't try this at home column. this is a bmx biker attempting 80-foot jump. here's the helmet cam. you know what's even more crazy about this? he only suffered seriously bruised heel. no broken bones, no concussion. >> he jumped the ravine. >> it looks like he made the jump. >> he made the jump. he didn't land on the bike. i don't know if that was a point, but. only severely bruised heel. >> maybe he bruised something else if he lands on the bike. think about that. >> let's not. we'll be right back.

god bless you, little dude. that's oliver. he seems to have a serious case of the sneezes. his owner posted this video on youtube, too cute. he keeps going. oliver was apparently reacting to the black pepper that was used in the family's dinner. what did they do, put it up his nose? >> i hope not. >> good night, everybody. >> bye-bye.